Sylvia's Pizza - Fresh Basil Mozzarella Pizza - Raleigh, North Carolina
When I'm really hungry, I can't get a slice of Sylvia's Pizza fast enough and nothing else will do. Fresh, sliced mozzarella is a completely different cheese than the kind that comes shredded in a bag. It has a stronger flavor and it's chewier. Fresh, whole-leaf basil is incredible. The smell alone is intoxicating. And fresh roma tomatoes put the tasteless beefsteak variety to shame. Absolute shame. These three simple ingredients would be good on their own, but at Sylvia's they become something more. The secret ingredient isn't the delicious yeasty crusty, but the dribble of olive oil on top. A better slice isn't to be found. It's more than worth it to sit in the fastfood-type dining room with soccer games blaring on the tv.
Hayes Barton - Tiramisu - Raleigh, North Carolina
Last Friday night I was on a mission for tiramisu. Hayes Barton Cafe and Dessertery seemed the best place to find it, but because it's a small space, the wait is too long to only get dessert. (They don't welcome the dessert-only crowd, either.) So I took it to go.
The best tiramisu I've had was served in a large glass. Here's my theory for why it was so good: Tiramisu is a delicate dessert that will quickly lose it's most important qualities (alcohol flavor--Kahlua and/or Baily's Irish Cream--and juiciness) if left exposed to the air. This leaves a too-sweet cake tasting of warm milk. But as a single dessert in a glass, the important surface area (the sides) are protected, allowing it to keep longer.
The proportion of ingredients should be about equal. There should be a sopping-wet layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of mascarpone, then ladyfingers, then mascarpone, all topped with cocoa. As a sloppy dessert without inherent physical structure, it seems logical to serve it in a glass rather than in a cake, but I've only seen it that way once. Layered in this way, the alcohol from the ladyfingers explodes in the mouth dissolving the mascarpone, so the bite disappears, transformed into a creamy drink.
The Hayes Barton version was $7 for a massive slice; expensive, but I think they intend it to be split between two people. The alcohol flavor (Bailey's Irish Cream) was present but it wasn't juicy enough. There's nothing like dry ladyfingers to kill a buzz. While there were at least two layers of everything, they over did the mascarpone; too much, too rich. I was not fond of the hardened chocolate drizzle garnish, either. There shouldn't be anything hard in a bite of tiramisu for reasons stated above. But, though a bit disappointing, it satisfied my craving, for the moment.
